I would be really ticked if a friend did that to my tablesaw. That being said I have 3 small kids, and things have and will happen from them. I will get over the frustration when they have/will do things like that. I read once that those stains are like scars that you someday may look back and smile about. (The original was a guy talking about stains from moisture in little mittens his kid left on there and not a friends soda haha)

In addition I have heard though not tried Mothers metal polish works pretty well on stains. I have some T9 but have never used it yet so I cannot comment on it.

My kids have each left drinks on it (once). I had a friend call me at work once to ask if he could come over and use the radial arm saw to dog ear a bunch of cedar fence boards. I was at work and he is not exactly handy so I told him to wait til I got home and I would run the saw while he did the lifting. He said he wanted to drop off the lumber while I was away and I said OK. I came home from work and found that he had stacked the lumber on the table saw. I really didn’t think too much about it. Later when we were running the milling operation he picked up that last board and said “that’s a wild looking pattern on your table saw” The wet lumber had rusted the top in the pattern of the grain of the cedar board. It looked kinda like that fancy damascus steel.

Bottom line is it’s a tool. I try to keep it clean and waxed and I use steel wool and 1000 grit wet dry sandpaper on it every once in a while. I haven’t found a stain I couldn’t get out (yet)

I try not be, but I am a stickler for this too. Yeah it’s a tool, but if I can at all prevent having to deal with rust or stains all the better for me I think. So no kids have drinks in the shop and if an adult comes in with a drink they must hang on to it or place it on a non metal table (my bench)

It’s going to happen, can’t keep them looking like new forever. All you can do is try to keep up with it. My shop is a detached garage that we also park our vehicles in, moisture and humidity is almost allways a problem. I use fine steel wool, and or Mothers polish, then wipe down really good with mineral spirits, then give it a good rub down coat of Johnson’s or Minwax paste floor wax.

I feel that it is no more acceptable for someone to put a wet cup on my table saw than on my oak side table next to my couch. Both get marks that need work to remove. With the price of high quality tools nowadays, we really have to take care of them. That said: I agree with Woodchuck and Dave and everyone else who posted.

I have used vinegar successfully to remove rust from cast iron. Let it sit a spell, then rub out, and then overcoat with a nice wax.

I’ve personally done everything mentioned here to my cabinet saw table top…even drilled a hole through the top accidentally. Stuff happens and there is nothing you can do about it after the fact except take a deep breath and fix it the best you can. T9 is my friend when it comes to restoring cast iron from rust stains.

It would only happen one time, if that, in my shop. Yes, they are “just tools”, but the people who usually put the wet wood, soda cans, etc. on the table saw are rarely the ones who paid for them in the first place. They are personal to us. It may not be hard to remove rust sometimes, but when WE have to do it because of someone else’s mistake, it get’s to us even more.

I have two words for you…workshop coasters! I don’t blame you..I would have reacted the same way..and I’m sure all my friends would have given me crap about it too! My friend owns a cabinet shop with a 38 year old Powermatic 68 with cast iron top and wings…he has cut 100’s of kitchens on it, and I walk in and put my iced coffee down on it and he freaks out on me!

I’m somewhere in the middle. I try to be careful, but I don’t get crazy about stuff when it is only cosmetic damage. You guys have to remember… the average person coming into your shop looks at that big cast iron surface and, to them, it looks indestructible. They have no clue how easy it is to get stains and rust on it.

I used a product from California Custom(from local auto parts store) called The Amazing Purple Polish.You can see it http://www.californiacustom.com/ourproducts.html It has an extremely fine abrasive which didn’t scratch the surface( I even tried it on the glass shield on my router,the product says it won’t scratch Plexiglas so I cleaned the clear cover with it and it DIDN”T even have a smear to remove!) And it leaves a light protective coat which I buffed out and then applied Turtle wax,(I did this to all my shop tools just before Christmas) every rust stain was cleaned off and all the tools are under the wax protection which allows the materials to slide with very little resistance.